Dorfee



M m) J. HOFFMAN. I

Lead and Crayon Holder.-

- No. 240,712. Patented April 26,1881.

WZJJBIJ; .Zizven i071 N4 PETERS. PHOTD-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH HOFFMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH REOKEN DORFER, OF SAME PLACE.

LEAD AND CRAYON HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 240,712, dated April 26, 1881 I Application filed March 21, 1881. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J OSEPH HOFFMAN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lead and Crayon Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to that kind of lead and crayon holderin which the lead clamping or grasping device is caused to release the lead by the movement of a pressure-cap on the end of the case or handle against the stress of a reacting spring, which spring, as soon as the cap is relieved from pressure, returns the parts of the holder to a position in which the leadclamp will close upon the lead. A lead or crayon holder of this kind is generally known in the market under the name of automatic.

It is my object to make an extension-holder of this kind-that is to say, a holder whose case or handle can be extended when the article is used, and which, when the article is not in use, can be shortened, so that it may be carried conveniently in the pocket, on a watchchain, or otherwise. This I acccomplish by making an extension-piece of the pressure-cap, or that part which, as hereinbefore stated, when moved against the stress of the reacting spring, acts, through suitable intermediaries, to cause the lead-clamp to release the lead. The tubular pressure-cap becomes one section of the sheath, the several sections of which telescope into one another, so that said sheath or handle may be lengthened or shortened, as desired.

The nature of my improvement, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, will be understood by referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a holder embodying my invention. Fig. 2- is a longitudinal central section of the same with the sheath contracted or shortened. Fig. 3 is a like section of the same with the sheath extended. Fig. at is a longitudinal central section of a modified form of holder.

A is the tubular sheath or handle, provided with the usual tip or contracted nozzle, a.

B is the lead-containing tube, longitudinally movable with respect to the sheath, and terminating at its front end in jaws I), (constitutin g the lead-clamp in this instance,) which project through the tip a, and are acted on by the latter when the tube is retracted to close upon the lead.

O is the retracting-spring, (arranged in this instancev near the front end of the sheath,).

and arranged substantially in accordance with reissued Letters Patent N 0. 8,967, of November 18, 1879, and Letters Patent N 0. 235,150, of December 7, 1880, and resemble the like parts of one well-known form of automatic holder nowin the market. The sheath A, however, is considerably shorter than the sheath of the ordinary automatic, and is not surmounted by the ordinary pressure-cap. In lieu of the latter device I employ the combined pressure-cap and extension-piece D, which is a tubular stem closed at its upper or outer end, and fitting and adapted to slide back and forth in the lower section, A, as one section of a telescope fits into the other. It has one or two annular guide or hearing ribs, f, on its inner end, to make a snug fit in the lower section, and the latter has its upper end contracted, as shown at g, so as to prevent the entire withdrawal of the pressure-cap section I). When the case is contracted the section D is pushed 3, it becomes an extension of the part A and lengthens the sheath.

It is manifest that the arrangement of the combined extension-piece and pressure-cap may be varied considerably, and that it can be made to operate on the tube when it is in its extended position, as Well as when it is in its other position.

In Fig. 4 the combined pressure-cap and erssuch, for instance, as represented in Let-- ters Patent Nos. 223,512, 223,513, 225,379, 228,897, 235,122, 232,607, 234,084, and others. I do not, therefore, restrict myself to the details herein shown in illustration of myimprovcment; but

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a lead and crayon holder, the combi nation, with the sheath, the lead clamp, the

lead-clamp-operating mechanism, and the re acting spring, of a longitudinally-sliding combined extension-piece and pressure-cap mounted in or on the sheath, adapted to move the lead-clamp-operatiug mechanism against the stress of the reacting spring, and also to be adjusted back and forth in or on the sheath, so as to lengthen or shorten the holder, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. In an automatic lead and crayon holder, a telescopic extension-sheath, the upper section of which contains the pressure-cap, which acts upon the mechanism that operates the lead-clamp to release the lead, substantially as hereinbeforeset forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of March, A. I). 1881.

JOSEPH HOFFMAN.

Witnesses:

LEoPoLD ANSBACHER, J OE W. SWATNE. 

